Robert Blake Returns To Scene Of Wife's Murder Outside LA Restaurant 10 Years After Being Acquitted

PICTURE EXCLUSIVE: Baretta star Robert Blake, 81, returns to scene of wife's 2001 murder outside LA restaurant 10 years after being acquitted of killing her

• Robert Blake, star of 1970s hit cop show Baretta, was photographed cruising past scene of wife Bonny Lee Bakley's murder May 7
• Bakley, 44, was shot dead while sitting in Blake's car May 4, 2001, near his favorite restaurant in Studio City, Los Angeles
• Blake was put on trial for her murder but in 2005 a jury found him not guilty
• Blake and Bakley, his second wife and mother of his young daughter, had been married only six months when she was killed
• During his trial, two stuntmen testified that Blake wanted to have his wife 'snuffed'

Former Baretta star Robert Blake who was sensationally acquitted a decade ago of his wife's murder marked the 14th anniversary of Bonny Lee Bakley's slaying by returning to the scene of the crime.

Blake, 81, has largely stayed out of the limelight since a California jury found him not guilty of murdering 44-year-old Bakley as she sat in the actor's car outside his favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City, Los Angeles.

But on May 7, the veteran actor was spotted driving slowly past the location where his second wife was gunned down on the night of May 4, 2001.

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Drawn to the scene of the crime: Actor Robert Blake is seen on May 7 driving around the area in Studio City, Los Angeles, where his second wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, was murdered in 2001

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Drive-by: Witnesses reported seeing Blake, 81, slowly cruising (car circled in red) past Vitello's Italian Restaurant (circled left) where he and Bakley had dinner the night she was murdered

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Innocent man: Blake (left) was acquitted in 2005 of shooting his 44-year-old wife of only six months in the head

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Last dinner: On the night of May 4, 2001, Bakley and Blake dined together for the last time at his favorite Italian restaurant, Vitello's, on Tujunga Avenue

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Murder on wheels: This evidence photograph from court documents shows the passenger side of actor Robert Blake's Dodge Stealth car on May 4, 2001, the night his wife Bonny Lee Bakley was shot to death while sitting in the car

An eyewitness described Blake looking 'pensive' as he drove past Vitello's, the restaurant in the 4300 block of Tujunga Avenue where he last dined with Bonny Lee Bakley before she was shot in the head.

On the occasion, Blake was dressed in blue jeans, a purple sweatshirt, a black cowboy hat and a pair of dark sunglasses.

At one point, he was photographed leaning against his dark-colored car in the vicinity of the Studio City eatery.

Later, he was spotted removing a couple of singles from his billfold while walking in the neighborhood. Blake wore a stern expression during the mid-day outing, but for a moment his craggy face broke into a smile.

When asked later about his pilgrimage to Vitello's by the National Enquirer over the phone, Blake reportedly denied visiting the area this month and insisted that it’s been years since he last set eyes on the notorious murder scene.

When initially questioned by police after his wife's murder, Robert Blake, then 67, said he and Bonny had dined at Vitello's and then went back to their car parked on a nearby side street at around 9.40pm.

Somber anniversary: Blake's visit to Studio City came three days after the 14th anniversary of his wife's death. This image shows the actor's dark-colored car on the left

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Deep in thought: The former Baretta star was described by a witness as looking 'pensive'

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Denial: When asked about his pilgrimage to the scene of the crime, Blake reportedly denied visiting the area May 7 and said he hasn't been there in year

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Prime suspect: Blake, then 67, was arrested in 2001 and charged with killing his wife after only six months of marriage

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His version of events: At the time, Blake told police Bonny was briefly left alone in the car parked near the restaurant while he went back to retrieve his gun, which he had been keeping for protection


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When Blake returned, he found his spouse dead in the passenger seat from a gunshot wound to the head. Witnesses described the actor as sobbing and shaking

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During the trial, prosecutors argued that Blake believed his wife trapped him into a loveless marriage by getting pregnant


No eyewitnesses, blood or DNA evidence linked Blake to the crime, and the murder weapon, found in a trash bin, could not be traced to the 1970s TV star

Blake claimed that he forgot something and went back to the restaurant to retrieve it. When he returned, the actor said he found his wife shot in the passenger seat. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Blake's attorney, Harland Braun, said what the actor left behind was a gun. Blake was carrying it because his wife of less than six months feared for her life because of her troubled past.

Bonny Lee Bakley had been married at least 10 times, had a record for mail fraud and made a living scamming men out of money with nude pictures of herself and promises of sex.

Robert Blake was a former child star who made his debut at age 5 as Mickey in the Our Gang comedies.

But Blake is best known for his role as the tough-talking TV detective Tony Baretta in the 1970s hit show of the same name, where his catchphrase was, 'Don’t do the crime if you can't do the time.'

Father figure: Blake has two grown children from his first marriage to actress Sondra Kerr and a teenage daughter from his brief relationship with Bonny Lee Bakley

He has had dozens of movie roles, including his portrayal of real-life killer Perry Smith in the 1967 film In Cold Blood - a role that earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Blake, who divorced his first wife, actress Sondra Kerr in 1983, met Bakley at a jazz club in 2000. The woman quickly became pregnant and the two tied the knot in a simple ceremony at which the bride wore a court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet because she was still on probation for fraud.

During his murder trial, prosecutors said Blake believed his wife trapped him into a loveless marriage by getting pregnant. They said Blake soon became smitten with the baby, Rosie, and desperately wanted to keep the child away from Bakley, whom he considered an unfit mother.

The defense called it a weak case built largely on the testimony of two Hollywood stuntmen who said Blake tried to get them to have his newlywed wife ‘snuffed.’

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Cleared: The sensational case came to a stunning conclusion in March 2005, four years after Bonny Lee Bakley's slaying , when a jury acquitted Blake of murder

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Happier times: Robert and Bonny pictured on holiday in Sequoia National Park, California, in April 2001, just a month before her shooting deat

Starring role: Blake is best known as the tough-talking TV detective Tony Baretta in the 1970s hit show of the same name (pictured)

No eyewitnesses, blood or DNA evidence linked Blake to the crime. The murder weapon, found in a trash bin, could not be traced to Blake, and witnesses said the minuscule amounts of gunshot residue found on Blake’s hands could have come from a different gun he said he carried for protection.

The sensational case came to a stunning conclusion in March 2005, four years after Bonny Lee Bakley's slaying, when a jury cleared Robert Blake of a murder charge. In court, Blake was photographed sobbing and trembling with emotion as the not guilty verdict was announced.

 

I'm thinking he must have made a few marbles for these photos...

 

He's like OJ- he's out looking for the real killers.

 

I still don't understand how anyone would recognize him on the street. Those have to be set up pics.

 

Don't go to bed, with no price on your head
No, no, don't do it.

Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time,
Yeah, don't do it.

And keep your eye on the sparrow.
When the going gets narrow.

Don't do it, don't do it.

Where can I go where the cold winds don't blow,
Now.

Well, well, well.

 

81 and looks in better health than Howard. Plus he's a better dresser than Howard too.

 

Here I thought that Blake, unlike OJ and others who got away with murder, was a smart cookie and stayed out of the spotlight to live his life in quiet. And now he goes and does something stupid. Sheesh, they never learn.

 

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Damn! Now I have that theme music stuck in my head!

 

I am still amazed that he was found not guilty. I know much of the evidence was circumstantial but the most logical explanation of who committed the murder was probably the correct one. In that case it pointed to Blake.

 

Yikes! Beat me to it!

 

This

and this

 

blah!
It's purely coincidental that he's wearing new shoes fresh off the rack, a new sweater, and a hat that coordinates the sweater. People who want to travel incognito always want to look their best (i.e. OJ and his murder outfit)

 

Money must be tight, even Flavor Flav has a newer model Beamer than that.

 

Bitch was married 10 times! At the age of 44? No, I can't imagine who would want to kill her.

 

He had possibly the worst alibi I've ever heard in any murder case and still got off scott free.

 

I was surprised he got off. I think the fact that she was such a despicable creature may have swayed the jury. Of course she did not deserve to be murdered, but I think if she was an upstanding citizen they may have found him guilty..

 

I forgot his alibi!!

 

Well that, plus all that BARETTA money bought him a dream team of lawyers. If he was a poor shmoe he'd be doing hard time right now.